1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for the safe disposal of medical instruments having sharp edges or points that may have been contaminated by infectious diseases or other harmful organisms. More particularly, the invention relates to a device for the rapid and safe disposal at the point of use of at least the sharp portion of used medical instruments such as, e.g., hypodermic needles, scalpel blades, suturing needles and lancets.
The present invention is an improvement over the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,165, licensed to applicant herein.
2. Prior Art
The safe disposal of medical instruments contaminated during a medical procedure with tissue and body fluids is a major health concern. Infectious diseases such as the AIDS virus and hepatitis, for example, can be transmitted through contact with contaminated instruments. Hypodermic needles, trocars and other instruments having sharp edges or points are particularly dangerous to personnel handling them. Disposing of the used medical instruments within the operating rooms, patient rooms, laboratories and other facilities is a task that exposes the doctors, nurses and other personnel to the risk of being inadvertently stuck or pricked by the contaminated sharp instruments. Injuries frequently have occurred, for instance, while attempting to cap used hypodermic needles in preparation for their transport and disposal through incineration or other means.
Current procedures require the collection and removal of the dangerous "sharps" to another site for decontamination, encapsulation or other protective measures. This means that the unprotected medical instruments could be retrieved and reused by unauthorized persons between the time the instruments are used in a medical procedure and the time they are destroyed or rendered incapable of further use.
Numerous devices and systems have been developed in the prior art in an effort to solve the problem of safe disposal of contaminated medical instruments.
Prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,816,307 and 4,900,500 to Honeycutt, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,923 to Donovan, disclose methods for encasing "sharps" in containers having resins which harden and encapsulate the instruments. The processes disclosed in these patents are slow reacting, do not provide a capsule that is resistent to crushing, and in some cases require handling of chemicals by the staff at the point of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,165 to Melker, et al., discloses an instrument encasement system in which a container is divided into two compartments by a frangible membrane, one compartment containing a hardenable resin and the other compartment containing a particulate filler and an activator. Upon insertion of a medical instrument through a penetrable top and through the frangible membrane, the contents of the compartments mix, creating a reaction that quickly hardens the resin and particulate material mixture and encases the sharp portions of the medical instrument. The system described in this patent does provide a quick reaction time for hardening of the resin and also provides a capsule or container for holding the sharps. However, a relatively large volume of resin is required, in spite of the use of the filler, and manufacturing difficulties may be encountered, particularly with reference to the placement of the frangible disc and the penetrable end wall.
Accordingly, there is need for a system for the rapid and safe disposal at the point of use of used medical instruments, wherein the system is simple and economical in construction.